Man accused in car theft caught via footprints in snow

A Stevens Point man accused of stealing a car was nabbed by police with a little help from a well-timed snowfall.

Alex McDonald, 21, was arrested Dec. 16 on charges of vehicle theft after he used one stolen vehicle while trying to steal from another vehicle, according to police.

According to the criminal complaint, a man reported his car stolen from the Neenah Paper Mill on Dec. 15 in the village of Whiting.

Plover police responded the next day to a report of someone trying to break into a car in the 2900 block of Bea Jay Lane in Plover, according to the complaint. The caller described the car and license plate being used by the thief, which matched the stolen car from the previous day, police said. A radar detector had been stolen during the break in, the caller later told police.

According to the complaint, the investigating officer was near her squad car when a car drove by with its headlights off. The officer got in her car and tried to track down the car, which she later found crashed in a snow bank on Maple Drive near Wilson Avenue in Plover.

Police found McDonald after setting up a perimeter, according to the criminal complaint, and matched the tread on the bottom of his shoes to footprints found in the snow leading from the crashed stolen vehicle.

McDonald also faces charges in other Portage County cases of burglary, theft, criminal trespassing and two other instances of vehicle theft.

If convicted of the vehicle theft charges, McDonald could face up to six years in prison and as much as $10,000 in fines.

McDonald is being held on a $50,000 cash bond at the Portage County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 13.

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Man accused in car theft caught via footprints in snow

A Stevens Point man accused of stealing a car was nabbed by police with a little help from a well-timed snowfall.

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